


All Along

by strikeyourcolors



Series: Always Been [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Gender Identity, Gender Issues, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Oral Sex, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 11:39:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11147637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strikeyourcolors/pseuds/strikeyourcolors
Summary: The cruelest thing Tim Drake ever said to Bruce Wayne was that he wouldn't be Jason Todd. Tim Drake is an omega. Considering the last Robin also was one, things shouldn't be this complicated. Unless it's that last Robin making things incredibly more complicated...Otherwise, how Tim and Jason kind of got together in this universe. No prior knowledge of the series necessary to read.





	All Along

**Author's Note:**

> We made it to the last prequel thing! This was actually one of the first parts of "Always Been" that didn't mesh with the continuity of that story and so got ejected into a side story. No previous reading in the series is necessary and this can be taken as a stand alone. A short bit about what Tim's relationships were like; especially with Jason. Since it came up in a comment, Tim is in his early 20s by the time the main continuity starts; think Red Robin era Tim.
> 
> Lucas is not in this fic, for those of you who care. He gets his own warning. Warnings for sex, gender issues on Jason's part, and some misogynistic language.

The cruelest thing Tim Drake ever said to Bruce Wayne was that he wouldn't be Jason Todd. 

Bruce, stricken, turned his gaze back to the computer monitor. Tim had regretted the words in that moment, regretted bringing the dark shroud of grief that hung over Bruce back over his face. But he stared unashamed at the glass case across the cave, the uniform of a (then) dead Robin contained within. This was important. If he was going to be Robin, this had to be said.

"I know I'm an omega like he was," Tim pursued, and he didn't pause because he had already marveled over the fact that Robin was an omega, staring at him through the lens of his camera. Robin didn't have any scent identifying his full sex, of course, but Tim had known that Jason Todd was an omega and no one pretended to be an omega. Not even to keep a superhero identity safe. 

Dick was the first. Dick was an alpha. Not a traditional one, maybe. He wasn't quite as built as one, and he wasn't so overbearing. But he was something safe and familiar for Bruce. Ruts weren't quite like heats and Dick never had to be benched for something like a heat.

Tim had presented as an omega, officially, before he became Robin. His first heat had hit at the tender age of twelve, confirmation of the scent he'd had since he was about five years old. Children began manifesting their secondary sexual characteristic through scent at a variety of ages. Tim was no different in that regard.

His mother, an omega herself, dragged him to the doctor as soon as the heat was finished. He remembered arguing that he wasn't sick until she explained the concept of suppressants. He'd grown up hearing about how rude it was to broadcast your scent as an omega in high-society circles. Until his mother was counting out pills, clarifying which pills to take and when in his cycle, he hadn't realized that heat was the onset of needing to dull your scent unless you were looking for a mate. He had smelled the differences in others. Peak fertility, close to a heat. Perfume masking the mid-cycle slump. Everything muted and tasteful in upper crust Gotham. 

Tim had been educated as well about how suppressants could build up in a body. From his doctor, and his mother, and even in his school's sexual education class. Each omega was different as far as how much they could tolerate without a heat, but most omegas needed a week off suppressants every so often. They needed a heat to flush out toxins in the reproductive tract, Tim's doctor told him, and Tim found out later that was outdated information and it was actually that suppressants could cause a chemical imbalance in the brain. 

Three months seemed to be a good limit for him. Three months on suppressants, a week off, three days of heat. He liked the balance. It became even more important as Robin, when the suppressant dosage had to be upped to avoid any identifying scent markers and any accidental heats. Tim never had understood how omegas could go through life totally unmedicated and at the mercy of whenever their bodies told them to breed, but as he plastered suppressant patch after suppressant patch under his uniform, he kind of envied them.

"I won't do it any more," Tim declared after Bruce had been soothed from the mention of Jason. "I can't take suppressants continuously. I'm not tolerating the drugs. I need that time off. I can still cover my scent for most of the week but let me have those three days." 

Bruce had expected he would be like Jason. Jason who loathed his omega biology. Jason who seemed to be able to take inhuman amounts of suppressants and never suffer for it like Tim did. Jason who never had heats because he didn't want them. 

Jason had been ashamed to be an omega. Tim never would be. 

It had been one of their worse arguments and Tim didn't feel like he'd won, even when Bruce pulled up the patrol roster and blacked out three days for him at the end of the third month.

To his credit as a man and as an alpha, Bruce adjusted quickly to his second omega Robin. The one that didn't want it hidden, and didn't want to lose that part of himself. Tim knew Bruce was well aware of the toxicity of suppressants for both alphas and omegas, especially in teenagers. Bruce was the one who insisted they rotate the type of suppressants every so often, leading to a miserable few days of hormonal adjustment. Tim also knew Jason had set the standard, had been the one to insist on the constant dose. Jason had felt he would never be embraced as an omega.

Tim was embraced, sometimes literally. After his mom had died he had been an emotional and hormonal wreck, he found himself surrounded by alpha. Bruce, Alfred, Dick. All stroking his hair, all comforting him, all steadying him with their pheromones until he got back on track. When he had a heat in the manor, Bruce reinforced his door with locks that weren't necessary. Alfred delivered meals and snacks, placed outside his door. Dick, if he was around, left video games or magazines or, when he knew Tim a little better, science experiment kits for children. The two days that flanked the worst of his heat he would grow rock candy or create alien slime and it helped ease the boredom from the forced isolation. Then he'd shower, and emerge, and no one would ever say anything about him heating. He would go back to work.

Then Jason came back from the dead. Tim had been thrilled, and then terrified, and then sad. He had tried to put on a brave face when Jason held him with a knife to his throat, after Jason had beaten him soundly. He squeaked when the former Robin had pressed his face to his neck, sure his throat was about to be torn open, but Jason had inhaled. That was worse. "A fucking omega," Jason had snarled and thrown Tim to the ground. Tim wasn't on suppressants that week, was just hitting the end of his heat. "He replaced me with a fucking breeding bitch." 

Which had confirmed Tim's suspicions that Jason had some definite issues with being an omega. 

It took years and several interventions, but eventually it was Tim that Jason contacted more often than not when he needed to make contact with the family. It was Jason who made peace with the fact Tim wasn't only an omega but one who had a heat. Tim had opened up, slowly, about the challenges of being an omega in a world made by alphas. Jason understood, somewhat. He had hoped to reinforce to Jason how Bruce would have accepted him, eventually, but Jason never seemed to draw that connection. Jason, Tim had found, was relatively scentless. He'd sometimes, rarely, get the brief scent of an omega (and bizarrely an alpha) but he'd always assumed it was a combination of the Lazarus Pit and the disturbing amount of suppressants Jason downed.

They'd been working a case when Tim realized it was time for his heat. That he might as well go with it since he'd forgotten to take a pill the day before, something that only happened when reflex was ahead of brain function. It hadn't been a conscious choice. He could take two pills and catch up, but there was nothing too pressing waiting for him. Bruce expected him to take a few nights off. There was only Red Hood, planning to come to his apartment so they could work through their newest information, so he'd texted him something short. **/I'll be in heat, in case you don't want to come over./** Jason wasn't an alpha. Jason was safe. Jason would understand without mocking, but Tim wanted the choice left up to him. There were certain implications about letting someone close to you in a heat.

Jason came over. That was surprising. Even more strangely, he brought donuts from the place that Tim liked best and didn't even complain when Tim ate most of them. Heat and a late in his teenage years growth spurt left him nearly constantly hungry. 

Ideally, his first sexual experience with Jason Todd wouldn't have been when he was cramping with the beginnings of heat, or when he felt a little nauseated from over-eating. But it was. Tim had been contemplating a fuck buddy for his heats for a while before that night. He just hadn't known who he was subconsciously hoping for. Not that he ever regretted it. Jason was amazing for a heat fuck. 

“You smell like pussy,” Jason mentioned casually as he finished a glass of beer that he'd told Tim he was a bitch for drinking. “Are we going to do anything about that or do you just want to wet your panties and talk?”

Oh, Tim wanted to do something. He was pretty sure he had shucked off his pants right then, face hot as he expected a sound bit of mockery. He really was wet. But Jason only stared, and Jason looked hungry. 

"Are your heats always like this?" Jason asked with something approaching genuine curiosity when he had his mouth pressed to Tim's cunt and Tim spread out on the sofa. He was lapping at his folds, making him toss his hips restlessly as Jason opened him up. Tim knew he was soaked, knew he was a bit swollen from hormones and a new rush of blood to the area. If he'd smelled like pussy before, now he positively reeked of it. 

"First day is," Tim breathed, wondering how they could carry on the conversation with Jason doing _this_ to him. "Tomorrow I'll be worse. The last day is a lot like this one." He arched, pressing himself to the way Jason's tongue pushed inside him. "Fuck, Jason. You're good at this." Good at hunting out the places that ached the most and exploiting them. Good at making Tim feel like his bones were jelly. It made sense, he thought distantly. Jason had the same parts. Jason knew what felt best.

"Only three days?" Jason prompted, teeth running against sensitive flesh, but never biting down. "You must have it down to a science."

"Always like that," Tim murmured, almost unaware of the words. "I'm close."

Jason hummed in agreement, pressing even closer, eating him out even deeper and Tim came. His body ached, looked for something to fill it, and Jason simply touched him through it, coaxing even more pleasure when he thought there was nothing left to give. When Jason pulled back, his face was wet with slick and it made Tim's cheeks heat up in shame and arousal. Jason didn't seem to mind, his fingers wrapping around Tim's still hard dick. "Do you want me here tomorrow?"

"Yes." Tim didn't even have to think about it. He said the word as easily as he drew in air. "I've been thinking about how to even try to set something like this up. I'm tired of going through heats alone." He paused, shivering, daring to lay a hand on Jason's shoulder and pulling himself up for a better angle. "I'd return the favor." 

Jason, thankfully, only looked amused. He liked this Jason. Calmer, more reasonable Jason. Tim didn't know what had changed enough for Jason to get some emotional help, but it did wonders. "You know I don't have heats, Replacement." He ran a thumb over the head of Tim's cock and Tim mewled, eager for more of that and not caring how much Jason mocked him for it later. If he was this needy on the first day, what would it be like the second? "Fortunately," Jason added. "That sweet pussy of yours is enough for me to say you've got a deal."

Tim had blushed, but they'd worked out their terms that night, before the worst of the heat truly hit. Tim was to contact Jason no later than six hours into the first day of his heat if he wanted him there for it. Any current emotional issues they left at the door. There would be no vaginal or anal sex, a fact Tim contested fiercely, but Jason more than made up for that particular loss with other skills. Tim also enjoyed the fact that Jason didn't treat him like some kind of sexual animal. When his heat crested he might very well act that way, but most of the time he was entirely aware and happy to carry on languid conversations.

He tended to do stupid, uncharacteristic things when the heat was at its worst, though. Tim had his mouth around Jason's cock one night a couple of sessions into their arrangement. He was heat dazed, completely on the crux of his hormones, and that was the only excuse he had. Jason's semen wasn't alpha, but Tim still wanted it, would still go to any end to obtain what he saw as his reward. He was pawing at Jason, coaxing him toward orgasm, when his fingers brushed something wet just below his balls. Jason was _wet_ which wasn't something Tim had experienced before. The thought made his mouth water. He wanted to bury his face lower, scent Jason in a way he normally couldn't. He wanted to make him feel _great_. It felt so amazing when Jason sucked his cock and fingered him at the same time, so Tim had moved without much thought. He'd barely slid his finger into Jason, thinking belatedly that something felt a little off, before Jason had knocked him to the side and was scrambling away.

"No," He said flatly. "You don't touch me there." 

Tim whined, posturing flat on the ground like an apologetic puppy. "You were wet." Then, more softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't think." Think beyond what felt good. Think beyond what he liked Jason to do to him. 

Jason didn't elaborate on what happened, or even bring it up again. He did make Tim keep his hands on his thighs from then on when he was giving him a blowjob. 

Outside of heat they were friends. Nothing changed. It was unsettling and reassuring all at once. And it was Jason he stormed to after another argument with Bruce. 

"He thinks I should date," Tim muttered, trying to chug down the beer Jason had offered him and nearly suffocating as the foam took him by surprise and  got up his nose. He coughed and sputtered, tipping his head down so he wouldn't inhale any more of it. Jason pounded him on the back, turning his face away so at least Tim wouldn't have to see him laughing. 

It had blown Tim's mind when Bruce brought it up. Bruce who, not too many years ago, had refused to let him join a tennis team for how distracted it could make him. Bruce who wanted his head in the game. Bruce who wanted to make him into a tiny Bruce-like clone. 

That was before Damian. Before Tim had become superfluous. The adopted son that Bruce no longer needed because he had a real one. When Damian had, within a month of his arrival, started smelling of an alpha? It had been the final nail in the coffin. Bruce didn't have to pretend to like an omega. 

"Dating is normal," Jason replied mildly. 

"You actually agree with him?" Tim demanded. 

"I didn't say that. Just, dating _is_ normal." He paused, sipping his own beer and not spewing it everywhere. "And we are not. We all put on costumes and run around the city hitting people at night. Not exactly dating material." Jason moved over to hand him some napkins for the spill of beer running over his face and down his chin. "I think you should get to know Tim Drake, though. He seems pretty cool."

It was the biggest compliment Jason had ever given him. "What about you?" He asked. 

"What about me?" Jason countered with a smirk. "I'm even cooler."

"You know what I mean," Tim fired back, by now an expert at Jason's deflection. "When was the last time you got to know Jason Todd? When was the last time that Dick got to know himself?"

"I'd say Dick has an entire city to get to know himself in and I'd say I literally had a year of bumming around Europe." He got Tim another bottle of beer. It wasn't like he'd drunk much of the first. "Seriously, though, Baby Bird. I'll be around even while you're finding yourself. You don't have to worry about that."

So Tim didn't. He went to parties. He played up the part of omega. He did have some fun but beneath that there was always the fear that being Robin was what made Tim Drake worthwhile. All of his accomplishments, all of his skills, seemed entirely diminished without the mask. He still called Jason for his heats. He complained to him as he tried to find out who Timothy Drake-Wayne was. 

It wasn't until much later that he realized Jason had known all along. 

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, Jason weaseled his way into this series (and especially Tim's backstory) way more than I anticipated. Suddenly he had a plot that people actually cared about. As to the questions of him being secondary sex transgender, I honestly wrote him with nothing in mind and then it kind of took off. This will factor into later chapters of "Always Been" so you will get some resolution! Promise! Thanks for the comments, kudos, and reviews on earlier parts. I appreciate them and suggestions (as well as prompts for what you'd like to see!) are always loved and considered and sometimes even written in. All of you have such great ideas and I feel so happy when I can write them for you.
> 
> ...now if Jason would just calmly step back and let Tim have the spotlight again...


End file.
